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Introduction to Simplyblock

January 1, 2025

A concise product overview of simplyblock: what it is, how it works, and why teams choose it over traditional Kubernetes storage options.

Simplyblock is a software-defined NVMe block storage system built for Kubernetes. It delivers NVMe performance over standard Ethernet using NVMe/TCP, without specialized networking hardware. Storage runs as a cluster of nodes exposing logical volumes to Kubernetes workloads via the standard CSI interface.

This introduction covers:

  • What simplyblock does and where it fits in the Kubernetes storage landscape
  • Disaggregated vs. hyperconverged deployment models
  • How NVMe/TCP enables low-latency block access without Fibre Channel or InfiniBand
  • Erasure coding and replication for data protection without excessive storage overhead
  • CSI driver integration: how Kubernetes PersistentVolumeClaims map to simplyblock volumes
  • Key workload use cases: databases, AI/ML, media processing, and multi-tenant platform storage

This video is a good starting point for platform engineers, storage architects, and CTOs evaluating NVMe block storage options for Kubernetes.